Method of forming a semiconductor memory device with a laterally etched bottom dielectric layer

ABSTRACT

A semiconductor memory device and a method of forming the same, the semiconductor memory device includes a substrate, a dielectric layer, plural bit lines, at least one bit line contact, a spacer structure and a spacer layer. The substrate has an isolation area to define plural active areas. The dielectric layer is disposed on the substrate, and the dielectric layer includes a bottom layer having a sidewall being retracted from sidewalls of other layers of the dielectric layer. The plural bit lines are disposed on the dielectric stacked structure, along a direction, and the at least one bit line contact is disposed below one of the bit lines, within the substrate. The spacer structure is disposed at sidewalls of each of the bit lines, and the spacer layer is disposed on the spacer structure to directly in contact with the spacer structure and the other layers of the dielectric layer.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention

The present invention generally relates to the field of semiconductormemory devices and forming method thereof, and more particularly to adynamic random access memory (DRAM) device and a forming method thereof.

2. Description of the Prior Art

For years the trend in the memory industry as well as the semiconductorindustry has been to scale down the size of memory cells in order toincrease the integration level and thus the memory capacity of DRAMchips. In a DRAM cell with a buried gate, the current leakage caused bya capacitor is often reduced or avoided thanks to a relatively longchannel length beneath the buried gate. Therefore, more and more DRAMcells are equipped with buried gates rather than with a conventionalplanar gate structure due to their superior performances.

In general, the DRAM cells with a buried gate include a transistordevice and a charge storage device, which is able to accept signals froma bit line and a word line during the operation. However, due tolimitations in fabrication technologies, many defects are formed in theDRAM cell with the buried gate. For example, the reduced line-width alsoincreases the line resistance (R). Furthermore, the shrunk spacesbetween wires also increase the parasitic capacitance (C), so that, theRC delay is therefore increase to achieve poor efficiency. Therefore,there is still a need to provide an improved memory cell with a buriedgate to gain enhanced performance and reliability of the correspondingmemory device.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

One object of the present invention is to provide a method of forming asemiconductor memory device, in which, a multilayer structure of adielectric layer disposed below bit lines are patterned respectivelyduring different processes, so that, only a bottom layer of themultilayer structure of the dielectric layer has a retracted sidewall,for exposing more portion of the substrate. That is, the method of thepresent invention enables to form preferably plug for providing betterconnection with the substrate, and to obtain a better semiconductormemory device thereby, for improving the electrical connection betweenthe storage node and the transistor underneath.

One object of the present invention is to provide a semiconductor memorydevice, in which, only a bottom layer of a dielectric layer disposedbelow the bit lines has a retracted sidewall, for exposing more portionof the substrate. That is, the semiconductor memory device of thepresent application may obtain more contact area between the substrateand plugs formed subsequently, so as to gain a better structure forimproving the electrical connection between the storage node and thetransistor underneath.

To achieve the purpose described above, the present invention provides amethod of forming a semiconductor memory device including the followingsteps. First of all, a substrate is provided, and the substrate includesan isolation area to define a plurality active areas therein. Next, adielectric layer is formed on the substrate with a bottom portion of thedielectric layer being laterally etched. Then, a plurality of bit linesis formed on the dielectric layer along a direction, and at least onebit line contact is formed in the substrate, below one of the bit lines.Finally, a spacer structure is formed on sidewalls of each of the bitlines, and a spacer layer is formed on sidewalls of the spacerstructure, with the spacer layer directly in contact with the spacerstructure and sidewalls of other portion of the dielectric layer.

To achieve the purpose described above, the present invention provides asemiconductor memory device including a substrate, a dielectric layer, aplurality of bit lines, a bit line contact, a spacer structure and aspacer layer. The substrate includes a plurality of isolation area todefine a plurality active areas therein. The dielectric layer isdisposed on the substrate, wherein the dielectric layer has a multilayerstructure and the multilayer structure includes a bottom layer with aretracted sidewall. The bit lines are disposed on the dielectric layeralong a direction, and at least one bit line contact is disposed in thesubstrate, below one of the bit lines. The spacer structure is disposedon sidewalls of each of the bit lines, and the spacer layer is disposedon the spacer structure, with the spacer layer directly in contact withthe spacer structure and other layers of the multilayer structure of thedielectric layer.

In summary, the method of the present invention utilizes the formingprocess of the spacer structure to simultaneously pattern a portion ofthe dielectric material layer, to make partial layers of the multilayerstructure of the dielectric material layer being vertical aligned withthe sidewall of the spacer structure, followed by further patterned therest bottom layer of the multilayer structure of the dielectric materiallayer while defining the plug trenches in the subsequent process. Inthis way, the dielectric layer formed thereby may obtain misalignedsidewalls in each layer, and only the oxide layer disposed at the bottomof the multilayer structure will be laterally etched to have a retractedsidewall without directly in contact with the spacer layer. That is, thesemiconductor memory device obtained in the present invention maysufficiently increase the expose portion of the substrate withoutfurther affecting the depth or the shape of the plug trenches, and then,the plugs formed in those plug trenches may therefore obtain morecontact areas with the substrate, so as to avoid the disconnectionbetween the storage node contact and the transistor.

These and other objectives of the present invention will no doubt becomeobvious to those of ordinary skill in the art after reading thefollowing detailed description of the preferred embodiment that isillustrated in the various figures and drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 to FIG. 4 are schematic diagrams illustrating a method of forminga semiconductor memory device according to a first preferred embodimentof the present invention, in which:

FIG. 1 shows a top view of a semiconductor memory device at thebeginning of the forming process;

FIG. 2 shows a cross-sectional view taken along a crossline A-A′ in FIG.1;

FIG. 3 shows a cross-sectional view of a semiconductor memory deviceafter performing an etching process; and

FIG. 4 shows a cross-sectional view of a semiconductor memory deviceafter forming a plug.

FIG. 5 to FIG. 10 are schematic diagrams illustrating a method offorming a semiconductor memory device according to a second preferredembodiment of the present invention, in which:

FIG. 5 shows a cross-sectional view of a semiconductor memory deviceafter forming a material layer;

FIG. 6 shows a cross-sectional view of a semiconductor memory deviceafter forming a spacer structure;

FIG. 7 shows a cross-sectional view of a semiconductor memory deviceafter forming a another material layer;

FIG. 8 shows a cross-sectional view of a semiconductor memory deviceafter performing an etching process;

FIG. 9 shows a cross-sectional view of a semiconductor memory deviceafter performing another etching process; and

FIG. 10 shows a cross-sectional view of a semiconductor memory deviceafter forming a plug.

FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram illustrating a method of forming asemiconductor memory device according to another preferred embodiment ofthe present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

To provide a better understanding of the present invention, preferredembodiments will be described in detail. The preferred embodiments ofthe present invention are illustrated in the accompanying drawings withnumbered elements.

Referring to FIGS. 1-4, FIGS. 1-4 illustrate a forming method ofsemiconductor device according to the first preferred embodiment of thepresent invention, in which, FIG. 1 shows a top view of a semiconductormemory device during the forming method, and FIGS. 2-4 show across-sectional views of a semiconductor memory device during theforming method respectively. The semiconductor memory device of thepresent embodiment is for example a dynamic random access memory (DRAM)device which at least includes at least one transistor structure (notshown in the drawings) and at least one capacitor structure (not shownin the drawings), thereto serve as the smallest unit in the DRAM arrayfor accepting signals from bit lines 160 and word lines 140 during theoperation.

The semiconductor memory device includes a substrate 100, such as asilicon substrate, a silicon containing substrate like SiC or SiGe, or asilicon on insulator (SOI) substrate, and at least one isolated area 101such as a shallow trench isolation (STI) is formed in the substrate todefine a plurality of active areas (AA) 103 therein. The formation ofthe isolated area 101 is but not limited to be accomplished byperforming an etching process to form a plurality of trenches (not shownin the drawings) in the substrate 100, followed by forming an insulatingmaterial such as silicon oxide (SiO) or silicon oxynitride (SiON) in thetrenches.

As shown in FIG. 1, a plurality of buried gates (not shown in thedrawings) is formed in the substrate 100, and the buried gates areparallel extended along a direction D1 to cross the AAs 103, therebyforming the buried word lines (BWLs) 140 of the semiconductor memorydevice. Also, a plurality of source/drain regions (not shown in thedrawings) may further be formed in the substrate 100 at two sides ofeach of the buried gates, and then, the buried gates and thesource/drain regions may together form the transistor structures of thesemiconductor memory device. Additionally, a plurality of bit lines 160is formed on the substrate 100, and which are parallel extended along adirection D2 which is perpendicular to the BWLs 140, to simultaneouslycross the AAs 103 and BWLs 140 in the substrate 100. The bit lines 160are formed on a dielectric layer 130 disposed on the substrate 100, witheach of the bit lines 160 for example including a semiconductor layer161, a barrier layer 163, a metal layer 165 and a mask layer 167 stackedone over another on the substrate 100. Then, a portion of the bit lines160 further includes a bit line contact (BLC) 160 a disposed underneath,and the bit line contacts 160 a and the semiconductor layer 161 of thebit lines 160 may be monolithic as shown in FIG. 2. In the presentembodiment, the dielectric layer 130 preferably includes a multilayerstructure, for example including an oxide layer 131-nitride layer133-oxide layer 135 (ONO) structure, but is not limited thereto.

Next, a spacer structure 170 and a spacer layer 175 are formed tosurround each of the bit lines 160. The spacer structure 170 includes acomposite structure including a spacer 171 and a spacer 173. In thepresent embodiment, the two spacers 171, 173 disposed at two sides ofeach of the bit lines 160 are formed through different deposition andetching processes, so that, both of the two spacers 171, 173 have astripe shape in a cross-sectional view along the direction D1, anddifferent materials, as shown in FIG. 2. Precisely speaking, theformation of the spacer 171 is firstly carried out by entirelydepositing a silicon nitride material layer on the bit lines 160 and thesubstrate 100 to cover each of the bit lines 160 and the bit linecontacts 160 a, followed by performing an etching back process to formthe spacer 171 including silicon nitride, and then, the formation of thespacer 173 is carried out by entirely depositing a silicon oxidematerial layer, followed by performing another etching back process toform the spacer 173 including silicon oxide, but not limited thereto. Itis noted that, after performing the etching back process of the spacer171, a dielectric material (not shown in the drawings) disposedunderneath may also be optionally patterned to form the dielectric layer130. The dielectric material layer is formed on the substrate 100 rightafter the BWLs 140 have been formed in the substrate 100, to completelycover the isolation area 101 and the AAs 103. Then, a portion of thedielectric material layer and the substrate 100 underneath is firstlyremoved while defining openings of the bit line contacts 160 a through afirst patterning process of the dielectric material layer, and thedielectric material layer is further removed while forming the spacer171 via a further patterning process of the dielectric material layer,thereby forming the dielectric layer 130.

Through these performances, the bit lines 160 and the spacer 171disposed at two sides thereof are both formed on the dielectric layer130, and the spacer 173 is formed on the isolation area 101 or the AAs103 of the substrate 100, as shown in FIG. 2. However, in otherembodiment, the further patterning process of the dielectric materiallayer may also be performed while forming the bit lines 160 orperforming the etching back process of the spacer 173, so that, thedielectric layer and the spacer structure formed thereby may obtaindifferent profiles. On the other hand, the spacer layer 175 formedsubsequently entirely covers the substrate 100, the bit lines 160 andthe spacer structure 170, and which may include a material like siliconnitride. The spacer layer 175 preferably includes a material being thesame as that of the spacer 171, being different from that of the spacer173, and having different etching selectivity related to that of thespacer 173, but not limited thereto.

Following these, a plurality of plug trenches (not shown in thedrawings) is defined between each bit line 160, and the plugs are thenformed in each plug trench. In the present embodiment, after forming thespacer layer 175, a deposition process and a planarization process suchas a chemical-mechanical polishing (CMP) may be optionally performed, toform an interlayer dielectric (ILD, not shown in the drawings) layer onthe substrate 100 to at least fill up the spaces between each bit lines160 and to obtain a planar top surface. The ILD layer for exampleincludes a material having an etching selectivity related to that of thespacer layer 175, such as silicon oxide or silicon oxynitride. Afterthat, a self-aligned double patterning lithography (SADP) is performedby using the etching selectivity between the ILD layer and the spacerlayer 175, to remove the ILD layer between the bit lines 160 and thespacer layer 175 underneath, and to define the plug trenches by exposingthe substrate 100 and the isolation area 101 between each bit line 160,as shown in FIG. 3. Then, a conductive layer 190, such as including SiPbeing formed through an epitaxial growth process, is formed in each ofthe plug trenches to directly contact the substrate 100 (namely the AAs103) and/or the isolation area 101, to serve as a storage node contact(SNC) of the semiconductor memory device in the subsequent process.

The method of forming the semiconductor memory device according to thefirst preferred embodiment in the present invention is thereforecompleted. According to the method of the present embodiment, the plugtrenches are directly defined by using the etching selectivity betweenthe ILD layer and the spacer layer 175, so as to facilitate theformation of the conductive layer 190 and the storage node in thesubsequent processes. Thus, the method of the present embodiment enablesto form the semiconductor memory device in a simplified process flow.However, the positions of the plug trenches and the AAs 103 of thesubstrate 100 in the present semiconductor memory device are notperfectly in alignment with each other, as shown in FIG. 4, so that, ifthe AAs 103 of the substrate 100 is not exposed enough in somesituations due to the displacement of the plug trenches or the unetchedspacer layer 175, the formation of the conductive layer 190 will beseriously affected. That is, the semiconductor memory device formedthereby may easily have defects like disconnection of the storage nodecontact.

Thus, people skilled in the arts may fully understand that the formingmethod of the present invention is not limited to be achieved throughthe aforementioned process, and may also include other process. Thefollowing description will detail the different embodiments of theforming method of the present invention. To simplify the description,the following description will detail the dissimilarities among thedifferent embodiments and the identical features will not be redundantlydescribed. In order to compare the differences between the embodimentseasily, the identical components in each of the following embodimentsare marked with identical symbols.

Referring to FIGS. 5-10, FIGS. 5-10 illustrate a forming method ofsemiconductor device according to a second preferred embodiment of thepresent invention. The formal steps in the present embodiment aresimilar to those in the first embodiment, for example including thesteps of forming the substrate 100, the BWLs 140 and the bit lines 160,and which will not redundantly described herein. The differences betweenthe present embodiment and the aforementioned first embodiment aremainly in the formations of the spacer structure 270 and the dielectriclayer 230 a.

Precisely speaking, the dielectric material layer 230 of the presentembodiment is also formed after defining the openings of the bit linecontacts 160 a, and which may also include a multilayer structure, forexample including an oxide layer 231-a nitride layer 233-an oxide layer235 (ONO) structure, but not limited thereto. Furthermore, the bit lines160 of the present embodiment are formed by using a top layer of thedielectric material layer 230 as shown in FIG. 5 as an etch stop layer,so that, the dielectric material layer 230 may still cover the majorityof the substrate 100 after the bit lines 160 are formed. Next, a siliconnitride material layer 271 and an oxide material layer 273 aresequentially formed on the substrate 100, to entirely cover the bitlines 160 and the dielectric material layer 230, with the siliconnitride material layer 271 covering both of the bit lines 160 and thebit line contacts 160 a as shown in FIG. 5, and with the silicon oxidematerial layer 273 directly covering the silicon nitride material layer271.

Then, an etching back process is performed, to simultaneously remove thesilicon oxide material layer 273 and the silicon nitride material layer271 covered on the top surfaces of the bit lines 160 and the substrate100 (including the AAs 103 and/or the isolation area 101), to form twospacers 273 a, 271 a at two sides of each of the bit lines 160 toconfigured as the spacer structure 270. In the present embodiment, sincethe two spacers 271 a, 273 a are formed through the same etchingprocess, the spacer 271 a may obtain a L shape and the spacer 273 a mayobtain a stripe shape in a cross-sectional view along the direction D1,as shown in FIG. 6. It is noted that, according to the method of thepresent embodiment, the dielectric material layer 230 especially for thenitride layer 233 and the oxide layer 235 of the multilayer structurethereof is further patterned while etching the silicon oxide materiallayer 273 and the silicon nitride material layer 271, by using the oxidelayer 231 of the multilayer structure of the dielectric material layer230 as an etch stop layer. Thus, the bit lines 160 and the two spacers271 a, 273 a of the present embodiment, are formed on a portion (namelythe nitride layer 233 a and the oxide layer 235 a) of the dielectricmaterial layer 230, to obtain vertical aligned sidewalls thereby, asshown in FIG. 6. On the other hand, the other portion (namely the oxidelayer 231) of the dielectric material layer 230 is remained to cover onthe majority of the substrate 100, therefore being laterally protrudedfrom the spacer structure 270 in the direction D1.

Next, a spacer layer 275 a is formed on the spacer structure 170.Firstly, as shown in FIG. 7, a spacer material layer 275 is formed onthe spacer structure 270, to entirely cover the substrate 100, the bitlines 160 and the spacer structure 270, and then, an etching processsuch as a dry etching process, is performed to remove the spacermaterial layer 275 covered on the top surfaces of the bit lines 160 andthe substrate 100 (including the AAs 103 and the isolation area 101), toform the spacer layer 275 a as shown in FIG. 8 to expose the oxide layer231 underneath. In the present embodiment, the spacer layer 275 a alsoincludes a material (such as silicon nitride) being the same as that ofthe spacer 271 a, being different from that of the spacer 273 a, andbeing in different etching selectivity related to that of the spacer 273a, but not limited thereto.

Following these, another etching process such as a wet etching processis performed, using an etchant such as dilute hydrogen fluoride (DHF) toselectivity remove the oxide layer 231 without etching the substrate 100(namely the AAs 103) and/or the isolation area 101 underneath. In otherwords, the another etching process not only completely removes theexposed portion of the oxide layer 231, but also further removes theoxide layer 231 disposed under the spacer layer 275 a and the spacerstructure 270, to form the oxide layer 231 a with an etched sidewallthereof being disposed below the spacer 271 a, as shown in FIG. 9. Thatis, sidewalls of each layer of the dielectric layer 230 a are notvertical aligned with each other, and only the oxide layer 231 adisposed at the bottom layer of the multilayer structure thereof obtainsa retracted sidewall. The retracted sidewall may include a verticalsurface as shown in FIG. 9, or may also include a curve surface (notshown in the drawings) due to the practical etching profile, but notlimited thereto. However, in other embodiment, the conditions of theanother etching process may be further adjusted to make the etchedsidewall of the oxide layer 231 to be disposed under the spacer 273 a orunder the bit lines 160, optionally. In this way, it is sufficient toexpose an increased portion of the AAs 103 of the substrate 100, sothat, more portions of the AAs 103 of the substrate 100 will be exposedfrom the plug trenches formed subsequently without affecting to thedepth or the shape of the plug trenches.

Then, the ILD layer at least filled up the spaces between each bit line160 is formed, the plug trenches disposed in the ILD layer are defined,and a conductive layer 290 disposed in the plug trenches are formed inthe subsequent processes as described in the aforementioned firstpreferred embodiment. The conductive layer 290 such as including SiP mayalso be formed through an epitaxial growth process, so as to serve as astorage node contact of the semiconductor memory device in thesubsequent process. According to the aforementioned processes, theconductive layer 290 may also obtain a portion protruded into theposition under spacer layer 275 a and the spacer structure 270, forproviding improved connection between the conductive layer 290 and theAAs 103 of the substrate 100. That is, the possible defects likedisconnection of the storage node contact mentioned in theaforementioned embodiment may therefore be avoided. Moreover, in anotherembodiment while the isolation area 101 including silicon oxide, theanother etching process may further etch downwardly to remove theexposed isolation area 101 under the oxide layer 231, thereby forming anopening 101 a recessed in the isolation area 101 to obtain a curvesurface being sunken downwardly, as shown in FIG. 11. In this way, whilea conductive layer 291 of the another embodiment is formed, theconductive layer 291 may further protrude into the openings 101 a of theisolation area 101, so as to both achieve the preferably connectionbetween the conductive layer 291 and the AAs 103, and a preferablestructure.

The method of forming the semiconductor memory device according to thesecond preferred embodiment in the present invention is thereforecompleted. According to the method of the present embodiment, dielectricmaterial layer 230 is further patterned while forming the spacerstructure 270, to make the nitride layer 233 a and the oxide layer 235 athereof being vertically aligned with the sidewall of the spacerstructure 270, and to let the oxide layer 231 thereof still covering onthe substrate 100. Then, a wet etching process may be further performedin the subsequent process to selectivity remove the oxide layer 231, toform the dielectric layer 230 a with sidewalls of each layer being notvertical aligned with each other. That is, it is sufficient to expose anincreased portion of the AAs 103 of the substrate 100, so that, theexposed portion of the AAs 103 of the substrate 100 exposed from theplug trenches formed subsequent may also be increased thereby, withoutaffecting to the depth or the shape of the plug trenches. Accordingly,the conductive layer 290, 291 formed at the bottom of the plug trenchesmay also obtain an increased contact area with the AAs 103 of thesubstrate 100, so as to avoid the possible defects like disconnection ofthe storage node contact mentioned in the aforementioned embodiment.

Overall speaking, the method of the present invention utilizes theforming process of the spacer structure to simultaneously pattern aportion of the dielectric material layer, to make partial layers of themultilayer structure of the dielectric material layer being verticalaligned with the sidewall of the spacer structure, followed by furtherpatterned the rest bottom layer of the multilayer structure of thedielectric material layer while defining the plug trenches in thesubsequent process. In this way, the dielectric layer formed thereby mayobtain misaligned sidewalls in each layer, and only the oxide layerdisposed at the bottom of the multilayer structure will be laterallyetched to have a retracted sidewall without directly in contact with thespacer layer. That is, the semiconductor memory device obtained in thepresent invention may sufficiently increase the expose portion of thesubstrate without further affecting the depth or the shape of the plugtrenches, and then, the plugs formed in those plug trenches maytherefore obtain more contact areas with the substrate, so as to avoidthe disconnection between the storage node contact and the transistor.

Those skilled in the art will readily observe that numerousmodifications and alterations of the device and method may be made whileretaining the teachings of the invention. Accordingly, the abovedisclosure should be construed as limited only by the metes and boundsof the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of forming a semiconductor memorydevice, comprising: providing a substrate having an isolation area todefine a plurality of active areas therein; forming a dielectric layeron the substrate, only a bottom portion of the dielectric layer beinglaterally etched, wherein the forming of the dielectric layer comprises:forming a dielectric material layer on the substrate, to cover theisolation area and the active areas, the dielectric material layercomprising a multilayer structure; and patterning a portion of themultilayer structure; forming a plurality of bit lines on the dielectriclayer, along a direction; forming at least one bit line contact belowone of the bit lines, in the substrate; forming a spacer structure onsidewalls of each of the bit lines, wherein the forming of the spacerstructure comprises: forming a first material layer covering the bitlines and the multilayer structure; forming a second material layercovering the first material layer; and patterning the second materiallayer and the first material layer while patterning the portion of themultilayer structure, to form the spacer structure and to leave a bottomlayer of the multilayer structure being laterally protruded from thespacer structure; and forming a spacer layer on sidewalls of the spacerstructure, the spacer layer directly in contact with the spacerstructure and sidewalls of other portions of the dielectric layer. 2.The method of forming a semiconductor memory device according to claim1, wherein the sidewalls of the spacer structure are vertically alignedwith the sidewalls of other portions of the multilayer structure afterpatterning the portion of the multilayer structure.
 3. The method offorming a semiconductor memory device according to claim 1, wherein theforming of the spacer layer comprises: forming a spacer material layercovering the spacer structure and the multilayer structure; andpatterning the spacer material layer to expose the bottom layer of themultilayer structure.
 4. The method of forming a semiconductor memorydevice according to claim 3, further comprising: performing an etchingprocess to only remove the bottom layer of the multilayer structure, toform the dielectric layer.
 5. The method of forming a semiconductormemory device according to claim 4, wherein the etching process isperformed after the spacer layer is formed.
 6. The method of forming asemiconductor memory device according to claim 1, wherein the spacerstructure comprises a first spacer and a second spacer, and the firstspacer is also formed on two sides of the at least one bit line contact.7. The method of forming a semiconductor memory device according toclaim 6, wherein a sidewall of the bottom portion of the dielectriclayer is disposed under the first spacer.
 8. The method of forming asemiconductor memory device according to claim 1, wherein a sidewall ofthe bottom layer of the dielectric layer is disposed under the bitlines.
 9. The method of forming a semiconductor memory device accordingto claim 1, wherein the dielectric layer comprises anoxide-nitride-oxide structure.